As part of material handling systems, it is common to pack manufactured products and goods, such as containers, into receptacles, such as a case or a box, for shipment. Typically, the containers to be packed are assembled at a designated packing location and transferred by an automated packing device or similar type of apparatus to the receptacle. The packing device reduces the time and labor costs that would otherwise be required to pack the containers into the receptacle manually.
Often, to facilitate packing, the containers at the packing location are prearranged into a pattern before they are picked up and packed into the receptacle. The pattern is selected relative to how the containers will be packed in the receptacle. The prearrangement of the containers into a pattern is commonly used when multiple layers of the same pattern of containers are to be packed into a single receptacle. However, packing devices that rely upon the containers to be prearranged into a pattern before packing are inherently large and costly to operate. They are also limited to packing the containers into the receptacle in the prearranged pattern, rather than having the flexibility to pack the containers in a variety of different preselected patterns.
In addition, many packing devices pack the containers by using a technique that simply drops the containers into the receptacle. The dropping technique is inherently unreliable because many of the containers often fall out of position, and can prevent additional containers from being packed in the receptacle. The problems associated with the dropping technique are even more apparent when containers of relatively light weight, such as empty plastic containers, are packed by packing devices. Empty plastic containers are prone to tilt or fall out of position due to their light weight if they are not placed into the receptacle with care.
To be effective, the packing of a receptacle requires the containers to be packed with care and precision. This is often difficult to achieve with regularity with most packing devices known in the art, as discussed above. Contributing to the problem of packing containers into a receptacle with precision is the use of plastic liners in receptacles. Plastic liners are used in receptacles such as cardboard boxes to prevent water or moisture from damaging the containers. However, the folds, creases, and excess plastic of the liners often cause the containers in the receptacle to tilt or fall out of position.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a packing apparatus that can accurately and rapidly pack multiple layers of containers into a receptacle with precision. It is also desirable to provide a packing apparatus that can pack multiple layers of containers into a receptacle in a preselected pattern.